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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055592">near-misses and mistletoe kisses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/ofstormsandwolves'>ofstormsandwolves</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas Tropes [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, F/F, Fluff, Mistletoe, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:34:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/ofstormsandwolves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Joan attends the SPRQ Point fourth floor Christmas party after several months as acting CEO, but her feelings for a certain red-headed coder make her wonder if it's a good idea...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Zoey Clarke/Joan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas Tropes [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058432</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>near-misses and mistletoe kisses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Based on a tumblr prompt of 'mistletoe'</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Being back on the fourth floor after so long away felt more than a little strange to Joan, despite it not having changed much since she’d left. The past six months had been filled with tech expos, public speaking, and travelling the world as acting CEO of SPRQ Point while Danny Michael Davis was serving time. Now, Joan wouldn’t trade the opportunity for anything, but it did feel strangely comforting to return to her old floor even for a few hours. </p><p>In fact, she’d missed the familiar faces of her team more than she’d ever admit aloud. She’d been a little surprised when she’d received the e-vite from Zoey, asking her to attend the fourth floor Christmas party, but she hadn’t been able to say no. The younger woman had become a good friend to her over the past year, and she supposed swinging by the party for a few hours wouldn’t hurt.</p><p>With a breath, Joan moved further into the office space, which had been decked out in lights and baubles and a big Christmas tree. The desks had been cleared away for the party, a wise choice considering that Tobin was practically throwing himself around the dance floor, clearly having already had a few drinks. Music pumped through the room, and Joan found herself giving tight smiles and quiet greetings to a few of her old subordinates as she moved through the throng of familiar faces. </p><p>She didn’t know why she was seeking out one particular person quite so much. Well, she <i>did</i>, but she wasn’t about to admit it. No, that was something she’d done her best to bury, these feelings that she was desperately trying to ignore. Getting out of the office had done wonders, but the feeling still chased her, the thoughts still preoccupied her mind at the most inopportune moments.</p><p>And then Joan saw her. Red hair cascading in waves around her pale shoulders, which were bare save two thin straps holding up an emerald green dress. An animated grin on her face, hands gesturing wildly as she talked. Joan felt her heart stop in her chest, her mouth going dry as she took in the sight of Zoey Clarke chatting happily with Mo, who appeared to be DJ-ing the event. Since accepting the invitation to the party, she had thought long and hard about how she would approach the younger woman, had carefully planned how to greet her in a way that was casual but not too casual, how she would give her that smirk that made Zoey blush, how she would try to steal the young coder away for a quiet chat and a private catch-up. Not <i>for</i> anything, of course. They were just friends. Only friends. Zoey didn’t think of her that way. But staring at her now, all of Joan’s plans flew out of her head and for a moment she could have sobbed.</p><p>Why had she come? After months of trying to ignore her feelings for Zoey, of trying to brush them off as a silly crush or a misinterpreted friendship, she had walked straight into what felt very much like a trap. How could she spend the night with the younger woman, acting calm and casual, and ignoring the fact she wanted nothing more than to shove her up against a wall and drive her senseless? Was this really such a good idea, showing up at the office party where there would inevitably be lots of alcohol and a delectably-dressed Zoey?</p><p>Taking a breath, Joan took a shaky step back, and instead started looking for the bar.</p>
<hr/><p>Joan was on her third martini when she heard someone call her name over a loud, pop-y Christmas song. She looked around in surprise, only for her heart to sink as she saw Leif making his way towards her with a grin.</p><p>“Joan! You made it,” Leif sat next to her at the bar, not noticing Joan’s strained smile. “Zoey said she’d invited you, but she wasn’t sure you could make it.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, well,” Joan shrugged uncomfortably. “I was home for Christmas, so I thought I’d swing by, make sure my replacement hasn’t managed to destroy the entire floor. I <i>would</i> quite like to have a team to come back to once Danny Michael Davis is back as CEO.”</p><p>“And we’d love to have you back,” Leif said, his tone making her squirm a little. It was just a little too needy, that little too sickly-sweet for her taste.</p><p>Letting out a nervous laugh at that, Joan took a gulp of martini. “Well, I guess I’d better make the rounds. Say hello to people, and all that.” She went to slide off the barstool, but was stopped by Leif’s hand on her arm. She stared at him.</p><p>“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Leif smiled, then pointedly looked up.</p><p>Dangling from one of the many strings of fairy lights suspended throughout the room, was a sprig of mistletoe. Joan felt the blood drain from her face as she returned her gaze to Leif’s expectant expression.</p><p>“Uh, well, I don’t know, Leif,” she shifted uncomfortably, gave another nervous laugh. “We’re in a room full of people, and the last time I let anything like this happen... Well, we both know it didn’t end well.”</p><p>“Come on, Joan, it’s tradition.” Leif took a step closer, and Joan quickly took a step back.</p><p>“Everything alright?”</p><p>Both Joan and Leif looked round in surprise at the new voice, seeing Zoey staring at the pair of them with a furrowed brow.</p><p>“Zoey!” Joan felt the panic loosen in her chest at the sight of the redhead, and she quickly moved to embrace the younger woman. “Everything’s fine, Leif and I were just talking.”</p><p>Leif, whose shoulders had slumped at the interruption, looked about to say something then, so Joan grabbed her purse off the bar and looped her arm through Zoey’s. </p><p>“Come on, I need to powder my nose.”</p><p>And before Leif could say anything, Joan was carting Zoey off to the ladies’ room.</p>
<hr/><p>Ok, so the ladies’ room hadn’t been the best place to go, considering that the rest of the party goers were male and wouldn’t be able to offer interruptions. All she’d succeeded in doing, Joan realised, was isolate herself with the woman she had quite frustrating romantic feelings for.</p><p>“So, what was all that about?” Zoey asked as she checked her makeup in the mirror.</p><p>Joan did the same, although she didn’t really need to. She just felt like she had to do <i>something</i> to stop herself from staring at Zoey.</p><p>“Oh, uh, Leif was getting a little too friendly,” Joan rolled her eyes. “Whoever put that mistletoe up should be fired.”</p><p>“But you’re alright?” Zoey glanced over at her with a frown. “He wasn’t making you uncomfortable or anything?”</p><p>“Well, he was, but I can handle it.” The brunette sighed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”</p><p>“What? No! Joan, you deserve to be here! You’re still our team leader, even if you’re not managing the floor right now! And, after all the work you’ve been doing these past months, you deserve a night off. Besides, I...” Zoey trailed off uncertainly then, before continuing in a quieter, almost uncertain voice. “I’ve missed you.”</p><p>There was something in her tone, a vulnerability, that made Joan freeze. Could she...? Did Zoey...? No, she couldn’t... She swallowed.</p><p>Zoey, for her part, was flushed red, and she hastily readjusted the straps of her dress before moving for the bathroom door. “We should get back out to the party before Tobin eats all the food.”</p><p>“Uh, yeah. I’ll, I’ll be right there.”</p><p>Zoey didn’t respond, instead hurrying out the bathroom without a backwards glance. Turning her attention to her reflection, Joan studied her appearance for a long while. There was no way Zoey had meant she’d missed her in that way, right? Not in the way Joan had missed her? </p><p>She stared at her reflection’; taking in her choice of makeup, the way she’d carefully done her hair so that it was naturally curly but not frizzy, the dark blue dress she’d chosen that hugged her figure in all the right places...  She’d spent ages getting ready for the party, had wanted to look her best, and for what? What had been the plan? In all honesty, there had never really <i>been</i> a plan, no matter what she tried to convince herself. Beyond ‘show up looking gorgeous, get Zoey alone for some drinks and a chat’, there had been nothing. She hadn’t considered what she would say to the younger woman, or whether she’d admit to the fact her heart stopped in her chest at the sight of Zoey’s smile. She hadn’t admitted to herself that she had dressed up for the redhead who had just walked out on her, hadn’t stopped to fully dwell on exactly what she’d been doing. A little voice in the back of her head that sounded like Charlie was laughing at her. How could she have been so stupid? Why would Zoey want her? She was reading too much into things. Zoey simply missed having another woman around at work, it had nothing to do with any personal matters or feelings. </p><p>After all, there had been talks of Zoey and Max, and there had been the accusations at Simon’s engagement party too. The woman had two attractive young men after her and the world at her feet. Why would she look twice at a woman twenty years older than her?</p><p>Letting out a quiet sigh, Joan made up her mind. She was getting out of there.</p>
<hr/><p>She really had meant to just sneak out. But somehow, Tobin had spotted her and Joan had been corralled over to the dance floor. Repeated attempts were made by the young man to drag her onto the dance floor, and eventually resigning herself to being stuck there, she instead made her way back to the bar.</p><p>“Where’ve you been?”</p><p>Joan blinked. Zoey was sat at the bar, two martinis in front of her and a worried frown on her face.</p><p>“Oh, uh, Tobin caught me. He was trying to get me to ‘cut loose’.” Joan grimaced.</p><p>“Ah.” Zoey nodded, and slid a martini over to her.</p><p>Somewhat reluctantly, the older woman slipped onto a stool and took a sip of the drink.</p><p>“You know, I was beginning to think you’d stood me up,” the redhead said, a small smile on her face. </p><p>Having no response to that, Joan simply blinked.</p><p>“I mean, I thought I’d scared you off, saying about how I missed you.” Zoey’s attention was on her martini glass, shoulders tight and cheeks flaming red in embarrassment. “I thought I’d made you uncomfortable, I know you’re not always big on emotional talks and stuff. But... But I meant it. And I’m not sorry I said it.”</p><p>A long silence then, as music continued to thump away in the background. A few people came to the bar, ordered drinks, and the two women waited uncomfortably until they were alone again.</p><p>“When you say you missed me,” Joan began uncertainly once they were indeed again alone, “do you mean at work?”</p><p>Zoey shrugged. “Kinda. But also out of work. I mean, I know you’re like, super busy, but I miss seeing you. Which sounds weird, I know, because we didn’t exactly hang out much before. But...” She sighed, before turning to look at Joan fully. “I had a conversation with Mo a few months ago, when me and Max were arguing, and he told me that real friends owe it to each other to have hard conversations, to talk about things that are difficult, or weird, or uncomfortable. And, believe me, the irony is not lost on me that what I’m about to tell you is the exact thing that drove a wedge between me and Max, but I can’t not say anything.”</p><p>“Zoey-”</p><p>“No, Joan, please just let me finish. I... I really like you. As in,<i> like</i> you. I thought maybe it was just a crush, or it was to do with you being there for me after everything with my dad and stuff, but... It hasn’t gone away. And it isn’t something I can just ignore anymore.”</p><p>Joan blinked. She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Was she dreaming? Had she slipped in the bathroom, and was actually unconscious right now? Was it some elaborate, cruel joke?</p><p>“Joan? Please say something. Anything.”</p><p>“Uh...” </p><p>In all honesty, Joan was having trouble processing everything and finding her voice. But Zoey’s worried gaze was just enough to jolt her out of her mind to stumble through an answer.</p><p>“That’s... Wow. Ok. Wasn’t expecting that.”</p><p>“I’m really sorry to spring this on you,” Zoey said, sounding more than a little worried. “Look, I know this seemed to have come out of nowhere, and if you want me to just leave you alone, I will-”</p><p>“I like you too.”</p><p>Joan hadn’t quite expected the words to come out so abruptly, and Zoey’s wide-eyed look told her the younger woman hadn’t expected it either. Now it was the redhead’s turn to struggle for words.</p><p>“Oh. Right. Uh, ok... So, um, what do we do now?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Joan admitted with a shrug. “I haven’t exactly done this sort of thing in years.”</p><p>“Yeah, no, of course.” Zoey looked around at the party that was still in full swing. “You want to go somewhere else and talk? Somewhere not full of our co-workers getting drunk and dancing to Mariah Carey?”</p><p>“If you want to, yeah.” A small smile was spreading across Joan’s face, and Zoey returned it.</p><p>“Ok.”</p><p>The two women grabbed their purses, and Joan had just slipped off her stool when she remembered something. She looked up tentatively and there, hanging between them from the lights, was the sprig of mistletoe.</p><p>Zoey had followed her gaze with a small frown, mouth widening into a surprised ‘o’ as she realised what Joan was looking at. Slowly, the two women redirected their attention to each other.</p><p>“What do we do?” Zoey asked, a little breathless.</p><p>“Well,” Joan said, a smirk spreading across her lips, “it <i>is</i> a tradition.”</p><p>The younger woman considered that for a moment from her vantage point still on the bar stool. She spared a quick glance at her team members, all drinking and partying. Mo was busy at the decks but looked up and spotted Zoey and Joan across the room. Taking in their predicament, a grin spread across his face and he flashed Zoey a wink. </p><p>Grinning, the redhead returned her attention to Joan, reaching out to pull her closer. Instinctively Joan stepped between Zoey’s legs, arms coming around the woman’s waist as they leaned in. Their lips touched, soft and warm, in a kiss that was surprisingly tender. When they parted, they both glanced towards the dance floor. Besides a smirking Mo, nobody seemed to have noticed their little moment. Threading her fingers through Zoey’s, Joan tugged the younger coder off the stool and leaned in close to murmur in her ear.</p><p>“Your place or mine?”</p><p>With a seductive grin Joan hadn’t known Zoey was capable of, the redhead merely raised her eyebrows and tugged her towards the elevators.</p><p>Well, Joan thought, it looked like she’d made the right decision after all.</p>
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